The Wisdom of the Sloth
by Greg Tompkins, Class of 2009
Greg Tompkins writes a fable for the Grade Four curriculum as part of the Kingdom of Childhood course in his first year.
There was a sloth who lived in a tree. And like all sloths he was so quiet and moved so slowly that you could be right under the tree or even on a nearby branch and you wouldn’t even notice he was there. He hung from the tree like a part of the tree itself.
In the same part of the rain forest where the sloth lived, there were three young howler monkeys who liked to clown around, and generally get into trouble. One day they stumbled across the sloth while they were monkeying around. They teased and made fun of him, saying, “Ooo, look how still and quiet I am. I’m not even an animal. I’m a big furry piece of fruit hanging from the tree.”
They poked the sloth and screeched in his face trying to get him riled up so that he might move or react. But sloths don’t get riled up. He just stared placidly off into the misty green forest. Soon the monkeys grew bored and went off into the trees looking for someone else to bother.
A few days later, while the monkeys were rollicking in a nearby tree, they stumbled upon another large animal sleeping on a branch. Like the sloth, it was almost impossible to see. Its spotted fur looked like dappled light on the tree bark.
The monkeys said to themselves, “Let’s scare this animal — startle it, poke it, and just plain bug it.” They pounced on the animal laughing and screeching. The animal woke and roared furiously. It was a fierce jaguar. When they saw her big sharp fangs, the monkeys screamed and tore away through the branches, scampering for their lives. The jaguar crashed through the branches after them, chasing them right up the sloth’s tree.
The monkeys whispered to the sloth, “Help us. Sloth, or Jaguar will surely eat us.”
The sloth said, “Be just like me.” So, the monkeys pretended to be sloths. They hung from the branch and stared placidly off into the misty green forest. It was very difficult for them to be so still, but somehow the peacefulness of the sloth helped them to relax.
Down below the surly jaguar circled the tree, growling. She glanced from branch to branch but could not see either the monkeys or the sloth. She kept waiting for a monkey to move or jump, but all she saw were bugs and birds going about their business.
After a while the jaguar became bored. She was really more sleepy than hungry, so she climbed up the tree and fell asleep. When she was deep asleep and snoring, the monkeys let out great sighs of relief.
They thanked the sloth for helping them and apologized for being mean to him. They quietly jumped to a nearby tree and put some distance between themselves and the jaguar.
The three rowdy monkeys never bothered the sloth again. In fact they sometimes visited the sloth and hung from the branch with him, pretending to be sloths.
For short periods of time they enjoyed being placid in the midst of the misty green forest. Then they would bound off into the branches to romp and play. However, they were much more respectful of the other animals that lived in the trees.
